The first edition of the game design competition hosted by the Yin family was ambitious from the start. They not only promoted it extensively online but also collaborated with the hottest training camp girl group of the time, making no secret of their ambition to discover new gaming stars in the industry.
However, being an inexperienced first edition, there were tens of thousands of applicants, including some excellent talents, but many were just minor players. Various small studios and individuals with little real expertise in game design emerged in large numbers. From the preliminary rounds to the semi-finals, the number of eliminated contestants could have circled the entire competition venue several times.
Starting from the elimination rounds, the judges began to play each game one by one and provided their evaluations, determining whether the contestant would proceed with a green light or be eliminated with a red light.
“This game is easy to pick up, the level design is quite good, but the art is somewhat lacking, which is a regrettable drawback,” Judge A generally started with positive comments and then pointed out the shortcomings to avoid discouraging amateur game developers.
“The storyline is too monotonous, the character animations are stiff, and there’s nothing noteworthy about the music; it even breaks immersion. This game is simply not up to par,” Judge B was always straightforward, known for nitpicking, and had brought some contestants to tears with their critiques.
“I also believe that this level of quality isn’t sufficient for entry into the finals, but there’s room for improvement. Please keep up the good work!” Judge C played the peacemaker role, preferring to go with the flow in their evaluations.
It wasn’t until the final game had been played and the five finalists were decided that the judges could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
In recent days, they had played numerous mobile and tablet games, including sandbox survival, music and dance, casual competition, combat shooting, and even turn-based games. Some were impressive, but most were excruciating to play.
With each passing round, the games became more mediocre, making the differences in skill levels among the contestants more apparent. Especially notable was the gap between professional studios with financial backing and amateur game developers with no resources. There was also a gap in talent. Some older contestants’ games couldn’t match the creativity and spirit of high school students who had entered the competition through unconventional means. It was clear that this industry required a combination of capital, creativity, and talent.
Among the contestants, the representative of financial power was naturally Yin Minglu. He was the so-called high school student who had entered through unconventional means, and he had shown his strong capabilities since the preliminary rounds. He had easily advanced to the finals, and his rapid progress had astonished many contestants and studios.
A challenger with a green light all the way! Undoubtedly a threat! Almost every contestant couldn’t help but pay attention to him. They underestimated his age but feared his resources.
However, he had already secured a spot in the finals, leaving other contestants with no choice but to continue battling each other to compete for the remaining four spots.
Among the amateur game developers, there were also dark horses. A high school girl with no influential background had created a game that had carved a path forward. She received many positive comments from the judges, leaving everyone astounded. People marveled at how talented these kids were these days.
Especially when they learned that the common girl and the rich boy were classmates, and neither of them was even sixteen years old yet, it was beyond words to describe the shock they brought to others.
Soon, it was time for the finals. There were thousands of spectators in the audience, ranging from young to old, covering all age groups. Students, working professionals, freelancers, and even homebodies—all shared a common love for games. In this world, people valued the pleasures of real life more than games, but they also didn’t view games as monstrous distractions. Instead, games were seen as a form of entertainment, and only a small minority pursued a career in esports.
Of course, in less prosperous areas, there was greater potential for boundless creativity.
Except for the contestants’ family and friends, ninety percent of the remaining audience members were selected through a lottery or received tickets from the official website. They didn’t know the contestants personally, so their live voting held more weight and better represented their opinions about the games. The judges had also been replaced, and the entire competition was broadcast live online to ensure fairness and impartiality.
Before the competition began, the contestants sat in their designated seats, some being interviewed by reporters, while others adjusted their attire to present themselves neatly.
Chen Xu sat in the front row of the audience, with a clear view of every move the contestants made. He gazed at the young boy in a white shirt and suspenders sitting in the contestant’s seat. There was a red bowtie around his neck, which made him look a bit more serious but also emphasized his youthful and adorable face.
“Thank you for your help, senior. I didn’t expect to make it to the finals. I will definitely work hard and not disappoint your expectations,” the young girl had clearly dressed up for the finals. She wore a beautiful hat, a wine-red dress, new leather shoes, and her makeup was exquisite, exuding a charming and exquisite charm.
She lowered her eyelids and expressed her gratitude sincerely. From a male perspective, her long eyelashes fluttered like the wings of a butterfly, complementing her fair, youthful face. She appeared like a beautiful doll, capturing the attention of the entire audience. After all, she was the only female contestant to make it to the finals, and she was exceptionally beautiful. Almost everyone passing by couldn’t help but take a few extra glances at her.
It was all thanks to the senior helping her secure a spot in the competition, giving her a chance to compete with Yin Minglu. She had done her job well this time, and she was confident of winning. Thinking about the effort her mom had put in for her, Jiang Mingqin’s lips curved up, feeling even more assured of her expected outcome.
“No need to thank me; you’ve earned it,” Chen Xu said politely. Such a small matter was effortless for him. He had even invested in her game because of a single sentence she had said.
—”My classmate, Minglu, always relies on his talent and is very fond of talented people. If our game can make it to the finals, it will definitely catch his attention and make him take notice.”
After all, they were competitors now. Could he resist taking a few more glances?
The last sentence seemed to have struck a chord in Chen Xu’s heart. Thinking about the friend request he had sent to the young boy and received no response, his gaze darkened. He agreed, all just to have the young boy’s gaze linger on him for an extra second, even if it was as rivals.
So, the young girl’s game received a substantial financial investment, enough to make the later stages of the game even more splendid.
Yin Minglu, on the other hand, was unaware of this. In preparation for the competition, he had secluded himself for half a month, communicating with his team every day. He was so busy that he practically wished someone would feed him while he continued to give orders. He didn’t even have time to eat properly until he took a break and checked his social media.
When he opened it, he found numerous friend requests. One of them was from a user named “Xu,” with a message that read, “Thank you, fellow student, for your help last time. I’d like to add you as a friend to express my gratitude.”
At the time, he thought it might be a fellow student he had helped with something small. He didn’t consider it a big deal and didn’t pay much attention to it. He simply ignored the friend requests. Since he had performed on stage, he had received countless friend requests from people of all genders, along with requests to promote products and sell bootleg copies of popular games. He was bothered by it and didn’t know when his contact information had been leaked. He had even considered changing his contact number several times.
After the contestants finished their preparations, the host took the stage. After clearing their throat, they held a microphone and began to explain the rules of the competition. The competition would last for ninety minutes, and each audience member had a tablet in front of them with five games created by the contestants already downloaded. The names of the game designers would not be displayed. The audience was instructed to play these five games based on their preferences and vote for their favorite game in the voting area before the countdown ended.
“The judges are the same way. The judges and the audience’s votes have a 20-80 ratio. After the competition ends, we will display the final voting results and compare them with various data from the five games to show which game is the ultimate champion.”
“If everyone understands the rules, please start playing the games on your own!”
As soon as the host finished speaking, people in the audience immediately picked up their headphones and put them on. On the smooth computer interface, they clicked on the game icons they were interested in, planning to play each game one by one.
The judges were also the same way. They were not as excited and impatient as the audience but calmly unlocked their tablets and started playing the games in order.
First, there was a game with a pink girl icon, and one of the judges couldn’t help but widen their eyes because the face of the girl in the icon was almost identical to the female contestant on stage. Even though the organizers had explicitly stated not to reveal the names of the designers, it was still evident to the players that this game was created by that girl.
Could they really do this? These contestants were trying every possible means to exploit the rules.
At this moment, the judge’s perception of this game decreased significantly, but whether they liked it or not, they still clicked to try it. After a few minutes, their expression visibly improved.
The game turned out to be quite good, with exquisite graphics and an impressive storyline. In brief, it was about a girl who visited a museum, discovered the ability to communicate with artifacts, and could travel through time when touching them. She experienced touching stories with the owners of the artifacts, such as the renowned Japanese Onmyoji Abe no Seimei from the Heian period, the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II from the 19th Dynasty, and the brilliant ancient Chinese general.
The artifacts were divided into rarity levels, including N, SR, and SSR cards. All players could unlock more than 60% of the characters, but the remaining rare characters and special interactions had to be unlocked through card draws. The drops from card draws were unpredictable, providing players with a sense of anticipation.
This game mode was truly innovative, considering even the profit potential. The judges were genuinely appreciating it and didn’t expect such creative thinking from such a young girl.
“I’ll try a 10-draw.” The judge tapped on the screen, and a complex kaleidoscope appeared. During the shaking process, it seemed as if an uncontrollable chemical reaction was happening in the background, making them feel a bit nervous for no reason.
Various items dropped, and among the blue and purple artifacts, there was a golden artifact that caught their eye. It was Abe no Seimei’s fan, an SSR card, which could unlock special interactions between Abe no Seimei and the female protagonist, such as watching fireworks at a temple fair. It seemed like they had good luck.
They glanced at the judges at the neighboring tables, and it seemed that all ten of their draws were blue artifacts. As a result, their expression turned unpleasant, and they quickly closed the game and moved on to the next one.
The judge felt a bit smug but quickly remembered their duty. After watching the drawn storyline, they also closed the interactive game and proceeded to the next one.
The second game’s icon featured a cute-looking deer with two chubby antlers, giving it an endearing appearance. However, it was difficult to tell what kind of game it was.
They hesitated for a moment, wondering if this cartoonish style game was meant for children. However, as a judge, they couldn’t act based on personal preferences, so they eventually clicked to try it. When they saw what was inside, they couldn’t help but exclaim, “Oh? What’s this?”
It was so unexpected because upon clicking the icon, they were presented with over a dozen small games that seemed like a whole new world. These games were all small in size, ranging from a few megabytes to just over fifty megabytes. The game titles included Happy Landlords, Joyful Mahjong, Othello, Gomoku, Dragon Ball Zuma, Match-3, Connect the Dots, Watch Me Parkour, and Ninja Fruit Slicing, forming a collection of various games. It turned out that this game was called “Deer Factory,” and it was apparently a casual game factory mainly focused on card games.
Since the judge hadn’t played most of these games before, they cautiously commented, “This contestant has quite an interesting approach. Could it be that they’re compensating for lower quality with quantity?”
They tentatively clicked on one of the games called Happy Landlords, featuring an icon of a Q-version character with a smiling face and small mustaches, looking quite wealthy. The character’s playful appearance didn’t make the game seem particularly engaging, so the judge didn’t have high expectations as they started a game session.
An hour passed in no time.
It wasn’t until the host reminded them that there were thirty minutes left in the competition that the judge snapped out of their trance. They had been so engrossed in playing the card game that they hadn’t noticed the passage of time. They had enjoyed winning and losing, and if it weren’t for the bankruptcy mechanism, they felt like they could have played all day, at least until they reached the rank of “Small Landlord.”
Because there were still three games to experience, they reluctantly put the card game aside, feeling a strong attachment to the game. Before leaving the game table, they even sent a voice message to their fellow player, “It was such a pleasure playing with you.”
Their fellow player also responded warmly by spending some game currency and sending them a bouquet of flowers as a gift. Ah, the friendly gaming atmosphere was truly something to cherish. They couldn’t bear to leave the gaming table.
The judge felt the same way. Among the various mobile games, what they liked most was playing card games like poker. However, whenever they went to a tea house or a dedicated card room, they would receive complaints from their wife when they returned home. Now, with just a smartphone or tablet, they could play at home without spending money, using the in-game currency. It was truly a good-hearted game that they must give a positive review and recommend.
This game factory had other games as well, but they would try them one by one after the competition ended. Clearly, this judge’s heart had been completely captured.
In the audience, many young people were playing the “Deer Factory” game. They started off casually, but as time went on, they became addicted and obsessed, impatient with other games’ long texts and storylines. They liked these simple and easy-to-pick-up games that could be played for a long time.
One of the young men even said to his friend, “Why are you running around? What’s the point of this game? Come and play Dragon Ball with me. I’m already at the ‘Young Dragon’ level.”
“Get lost! I find this game fun.” He controlled a character, leaping between residential buildings like Spider-Man, even though sometimes he would get knocked down by the clotheslines on balconies. However, he enjoyed this city-wide parkour race. Running on train tracks was also interesting.
There was even a young couple where the boyfriend, who was still playing a romance game, convinced his girlfriend to join him in playing poker. She hesitated for a moment before agreeing.
In reality, she felt that “Dream of a Thousand Years,” the romance game she was playing, suited her better. Although she found the card-drawing aspect frustrating, interacting with the characters made her genuinely smile. She felt like the protagonist, having passionate and moving romances with those historical male gods or forming sincere and touching friendships with those historically pitiful yet great women.
There were several moments when she almost teared up, so she sat in the audience section, appearing both infatuated and delighted. Fortunately, she wasn’t the only one in the audience with this reaction.
The story and plot were truly exceptional.
But after playing a few rounds of poker and Fruit Ninja with her boyfriend, her interest was also ignited. She found herself quite liking the games from this game factory.
This was what Yin Minglu had said before: “If you’re going to do it, do it big!” What were small games? They needed to create an entire game factory! He had the resources, so he purchased the local copyrights for these games one by one, made some modifications, and integrated them into a collection of games.
…
In the audience, there were also a few elderly people who had come along with their families just to accompany them. They were not used to electronic devices because of their age, but after opening “Joyful Mahjong,” their fingers suddenly became nimble, and they played cards quickly.
After the opponent hesitated for a while, they even sent voice messages saying, “You’ve taken so long that the flowers have withered.”
Their ability to adapt was extremely fast.
Especially with the backdrop of lush bamboo forests in Shuzhou or the ancient and picturesque Xiangxielou1Xiangxielou Pavilion, also known as Xiangxie Building or Xiangxie Lou, is a historic and cultural landmark located in Guangzhou, China. It is a traditional Chinese-style building that was constructed during the Qing Dynasty. pavilion, it gave them the desire to play cards.
Among the judges, there was one who always took his time to think before making a move. He was urged by others repeatedly and almost jumped up, asking who among the audience dared to complain about the judges’ slow pace of play. He even threatened to buy a bottle of cold water and throw it at the complainer’s face.
Some judges, after hastily trying other games, returned to the embrace of the “Deer Factory.” They became addicted to these small, intoxicating mini-games one by one, only to realize they had gone bankrupt.
They were astonished. How did they go bankrupt so quickly? Did bankruptcy mean they couldn’t continue playing the game? Oh, there were still three free bankruptcy opportunities every day. Wasn’t this so considerate? They wanted to praise this game!
In contrast to this, “Dream of a Thousand Years” had received widespread praise for its exquisite illustrations, romantic art style, and touching storyline. However, after playing for a while, problems began to surface.
Some players complained, their reason being, “Isn’t it too obvious that this game is all about microtransactions?”
The first recharge package was indeed affordable at just 6 RMB2around 0.94 USD, but there were some students in the audience who preferred to play games without spending any money. When they realized they had to pay for card draws, they immediately frowned.
“What a rubbish game! It’s asking for money everywhere. Why don’t you learn from the ‘Deer Factory’ next door? In Landlords, it’s my fault if I lose, but they give me three bankruptcy opportunities every day for free! Their other mini-games don’t require money either!”
These comments were relayed to Jiang Mingqin backstage, which left her in disbelief. She wondered how this could happen. In the previous life, this game had received widespread acclaim, and the designers were even idolized by fans. Only a few people criticized it for microtransactions, and even when they did, they continued to play while venting their frustrations. But now, people in the audience section were not hesitating to uninstall the game and seemed to have no attachment to it at all.
If she knew what was going through their minds, Yin Minglu would definitely sneer and accuse her of being foolish. In the previous life, this game had become successful only after the original host’s game company had released numerous “microtransaction games.” It was only after that that they carefully launched “Dream of a Thousand Years,” a game with outstanding storylines and character designs.
With the foundation laid in the previous games, “Dream of a Thousand Years” naturally had a fantastic market response. Its reputation soared, and in the first month after release, it earned over 50 million RMB3around 7.82 million USD in profit. Many teenagers in their puberty who were infatuated with handsome characters bit their lips, ate instant noodles, and devoured bread while making microtransactions.
Now, however, people hadn’t formed a concept of spending money within games, and yet the game was released without consideration. Naturally, its reputation would take a nosedive, and people believed it was a money-grabbing game. Jiang Mingqin only saw the benefits this game could bring, but she overlooked the timing of its release.
To be a game producer with a good reputation, you had to make players feel like you were “losing money” in the early stages before turning a profit. The original host had gone through this process. Jiang Mingqin had no concept of game development, so she had rushed straight to the final step, causing a backlash. After all, there would always be a conflict between reputation and profitability.
In the audience, a young woman with black-framed glasses who looked like a writer was trembling as she stared at the pink game interface. She was so angry that she couldn’t speak. Someone had shamelessly plagiarized her novel’s ideas, even leaving the protagonist’s name unchanged! Her female protagonist even had someone else’s face superimposed on hers. It was truly shameless!
—
Author’s Note:
To avoid any controversy, let me clarify that none of these games were designed by the protagonist. Firstly, the competition time was not enough.
Secondly, although it’s a parallel world, games like poker and Mahjong have existed since ancient times, so they would still exist in different timelines.
The protagonist, including the original host, bought the local copyrights of these games within this timeline and made modifications before integrating them into a collection of games.
The goal was not to make a profit but to accumulate reputation and a good player base.
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